Let a feature render nothing when it cannot work
A component that renders an empty box when its data is missing looks broken. A component that returns null looks like the feature is not there, which is a perfectly good state.
const summary = await threadSummary(id);
if (!summary) return null;Design the empty state on purpose, in code, before the day the upstream is down.
reactreliability
Longer version: the post this came from.